Team USA has done a deep dive into Assistant Professor Cassie Mitchell’s career and her quest for gold at the 2021 Paralympic Games.

Winner of a silver medal in discus and a bronze in club throw at the 2016 Games in Rio, Mitchell finds herself facing a fresh round of challenges in pursuit of the top of the podium this year.

Like all athletes, the postponement of the Games from 2020 — and cancellation of many pre-Paralympic competitions — has created uncertainty. If she qualifies, she’ll also have to compete in Tokyo against athletes from her own classification and the next higher one.

But she remains undaunted: “It’s all about the gold medal at this point,” she told Team USA’s website. “There’s either the gold, or there’s nothing.”

Read more about her incredible journey from scholarship track and field athlete to two-time Paralympic medalist on the Team USA site.